Optical method for investigation of the kinetics of the Si(111) phase transition

Abstract We have demonstrated an optical method for measuring the kinetics of the Si(111) phase transition. The system is based on the temporal evolution of the surface second-harmonic generation (SHG) intensity from 7 × 7, “1 × 1” and their mixture of Si(111) in response to a stepwise temperature change. The temporal evolution of the SH signal around the transition temperature is shown to reflect a delayed response of the 7 × 7 ↔ “1 × 1” phase transition with a response time of ∼ 3 s both for heating and cooling.